Apple explains why it removed ICE tracking apps last year

In a July 2026 letter to U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Apple said its decision to remove ICEBlock and similar apps that aggregated real-time locations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from the App Store was “driven by concerns” about “agent security,” according to CNNIt’s Clare Duffy.

The report said the app removals were “driven by concerns – including those raised by the Trump administration – about agent safety following a fatal shooting that left two people dead at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.”

Apple removed ICEBlock from the App Store in October 2025, leading Raskin to launch an investigation into the U.S. Department of Justice’s apparent role in removing apps from Google’s App Store and Play Store, according to the report. Apple’s letter in response to Raskin had not been previously reported, according to CNN.

When it removed ICEBlock from the ‌App Store‌, Apple said the app violated guideline 1.1.1 of its App Review Guidelines:

Information provided to Apple by law enforcement shows that your app violates Guideline 1.1.1 because its purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm those officers individually or in groups. For this reason, your app will be removed from the App Store.

ICEBlock has not returned to the App Store.

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